The Republican leaders of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
and Senate said the Legislature must proceed very cautiously on
the FY 2008 budget following Thursday’s recommendation by
the Oklahoma Tax Commission that tax revenue estimates be significantly
reduced compared to estimates made last December.

Tax commissioners officially reduced their estimates for tax collections
for the 2008 fiscal year by more than $250 million. Commissioners
also sent a letter to the Office of State Finance advising that
corporate income tax collections should also be reduced by about
$100 million compared to the previous estimate, for a total reduction
of more than $350 million.

“This news validates our concerns that the governor was being
rash with his spending proposals and that his budget was based on
very rosy revenue projections,” stated Senate Co-President
Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. “The Legislature
must proceed very cautiously. We should treat the Tax Commission’s
warning about reduced tax collections very seriously – especially
the news that corporate income tax collections are also likely to
be far less than officially projected.”

Speaker of the House Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, said, “This
is exactly why we’ve emphasized fiscal responsibility this
year and why we have already laid the groundwork for cutting and
eliminating needless government bureaucracy. We call on the governor
to reconsider his bloated budget and scrap the billion dollars in
new spending and debt that he has proposed. We’ve seen a wide
fluctuation in revenue estimates so far. When the Democrats were
in control several years ago and there were shortfalls, their answer
was to raise the income tax. That won’t happen on our watch.”